ENFIELD — The town has selected a longtime Enfield police officer as its next police chief.
Luke Frye, who’s currently the interim police chief, is scheduled to take his oath of office during Monday night’s Selectboard meeting. In addition to police chief, his roles will include public safety director and emergency management director.
Frye replaces Roy Holland, who retired in April after leading the department since 2018.
Frye, who lives in Enfield, is looking forward to “continuing on with what we built under Chief Holland,” he said Wednesday in a phone interview. “We’ve created a good thing here and I look forward to keeping it going.”
During an interview last March, Holland spoke highly of Frye.
“Hopefully in the end Deputy Chief Frye will get his opportunity to lead this department because I think he’s earned it,” Holland told the Valley News.
Frye, 44, joined the Enfield Police Department in March 2007, climbed the ranks, and was named deputy chief last August. He grew up in Enfield and graduated from Mascoma Valley Regional High School.
“Chief Frye has served our community with professionalism and dedication throughout his career, and I am confident he will continue building upon the strong foundation established by Chief Roy Holland while leading our Police Department, Fire Department, EMS, and Emergency Management programs into the future,” Enfield Town Manager Ed Morris wrote in the town’s July newsletter.
To find its next police chief, the town hired Municipal Resources Inc. to lead a nationwide search, Morris wrote in an email. MRI reviewed applications and passed along candidates to the town’s Police Chief Hiring Committee, which included five residents, two Enfield police officers and Morris. The committee recommended the Selectboard and Morris interview two candidates.
During a nonpublic meeting, the Selectboard “discussed with me the pros and cons of each candidate and they individually made recommendations,” Morris wrote. While state law states that town managers can hire police chiefs on their own, Morris wanted to make sure there was sufficient input from others.
“For high-level employees such as police chief or finance director, I feel it is imperative that the Selectboard be part of that process, which is why they were part of the hiring process,” Morris wrote.
The police department is currently down one full-time officer: It has six full-time officers and four part-time officers, Frye said. The town will be actively looking for a police officer to join the department.
